According to an aide, Governor Tina Kotek will review a landmark housing law that she led through the Oregon Legislature in 2019 while serving as House Speaker.
Kotek supported House Bill 2001 five years ago, which permitted the development of duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes, and so-called cottage clusters on land that had previously been designated only for single-family detached homes in cities with a population of 25,000 or more, as well as smaller suburbs of Portland. Duplexes were also permitted in single-family designated neighborhoods in cities with a population of 10,000 or more.
At the Oregon Leadership Summit on Monday, Kotek’s head of the housing and homelessness project, Matthew Tschabold, stated that Kotek intends to amend Oregon’s intermediate housing law during the next session.
During a housing panel, Tschabold stated, “We know we still have more changes to do with regard to facilitating middle housing or allowing more density,” but he did not go into detail about the changes Kotek thought the middle housing law needed.
The governor’s legislative agenda will be finalized in the new year, according to an email from a Kotek representative, who declined to elaborate on the changes the governor will seek.
This follows Kotek’s announcement last week of a proposed budget that she believes would allocate $780 million to the construction of affordable housing, $100 million to the construction of owner-occupied apartments, and an additional $100 million for infrastructure required to assist in the establishment of new units.
In addition to a long-standing housing shortfall, Oregon is currently experiencing a short-term production downturn. This year, statewide permits are tracking below normal and are likely to fall short of the governor’s yearly target of 36,000, which was set when she took office in 2023.
The most recent figures from a federal database show that in the first 10 months of this year, Oregon received permits for 11,864 dwelling units.
According to Tschabold, Oregon averages between 18,000 and 19,000 permits annually over the course of five years.
Tschabold stated, “We are very behind compared to where Oregon needs to be filling its housing deficit.”
–Jonathan Bach covers real estate and housing. You can contact him by phone at 503-221-4303 or by email at [email protected].
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